China had a great need for a powerful military. Not only were armies needed to control the vast territories of China and to defeat internal rivals, but ancient China was also surrounded by potential enemies. Different Ethnic groups within ancient China such as the Qiang and Di vied for power. The settled nations around China resented the subordination, or outright annexation, that the Chinese attempted to thrust on them causing wars with groups like the Vietnamese and the Koreans. However it was the nomadic tribes to the West and North of China that caused the most problems.
A seemingly endless stream of tribal confederations and ethnic tribal groups invaded china from the heart of Asia since the founding of the civilization. At first the
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Perhaps 70 would be more appropriate. However, Chinese society was becoming stratified and the warrior elites who made up the chariot core had become an aristocracy. The chariots carried three people, an archer, warrior and driver. The archer had become equipped with the new and deadly but expensive compound bow. Another innovation borrowed from the derided steppe nomads, now called the Horse Barbarians and actively campaigned against. The warrior used a dagger-axe, a long handled axe with a dagger blade mounted on it. Chariots served as mobile command centers, firing platforms and shock forces. However, the bulk of the army was made up of agricultural laborers conscripted by nobles who were under the ruling dynasty. The feudal system that developed required these subservient lords to provide supplies, armor and weapons for the conscripts. The Shang king kept a force of around a thousand troops that he personally led in battle. A Shang king could muster an army of about five thousand for in border campaigns or call all his forces up in a grand army numbering around 13,000 to face down serious threats such as insurrection and invasion. Shang infantry were armed with an assortment of stone or bronze weapons, including spears, pole-axes, long handled dagger-axes and simple bows. For defense they used shields and occasionally bronze or leather
Another reason was that China was divided by the presence of the warlords. When Yuan died, the warlords, who were evenly powerful, assumed control in their region. China became fragments of territories ruled by the warlords. Anarchy became prevalent throughout this period because many of these warlords did not have the capability to unite or stabilize China. During this period, warlords plundered their territories and fought amongst each other.
Justin Morgan was a living legend. Born in 1789, Justin Morgan started life as a small, rough-coated colt known as "Figure." Gradually, the local population began to talk about the feats of "the Justin Morgan horse". Justin Morgan also proved to be one of the greatest breeding horses of all time. While most breeds develop by breeding horses of similar characteristics to each other, Justin Morgan's ability to pass his characteristics to his offspring for generations to come allowed this single stallion to found an entire breed in his likeness. Today, every registered Morgan traces back to Justin Morgan through his best-known sons Bulrush, Sherman, and Woodbury.
Both the Han and Roman empires emphasized on territorial expansions. By utilizing their powerful militaries, they consolidated their power within and across borders, which created stable trade networks for their economic bases. Land equated to wealth and power. Through integration of the local domains, both empires succeeded in political stability. For the Han Empire, their expansion abroad pushed through ecological limits under Emperor Wu Di ( 181-87 BCE), who made military service compulsory. The army expanded bordered into northern Vietnam and southeastern China. Although there were military threats from the Xiongnu, the nomadic people of the north, Wu launched defense attacks that made ...
Throughout the lecture this is very evident. Examples of this are evident throughout the course. The first example was in Unit 1, in the case of Chinese expansion, Stromberg might focus on internal reasons as to why the Chinese dynasties rose and fell and eventually became what China is today; however, the lectures focus on the idea that there were many examples of power struggles and great interaction between Mainland China and nearby areas. These interactions include the influence of “Mongol raids, spread of Buddhism from India, and even the interaction, or lack thereof, between China and inner Eurasia, ultimately leading to the identity of China” (1/1). The lecture gives evidence as to why China, even to this day, is such a diverse nation: Mongol invaders expanded Chinese landmass in hopes of security against other invading empires and took people previously excluded under their wings
The use of horses for human consumption dates back to the earliest use of animals for human consumption. Horses are used for food in many counties but are also considered inhumane in other countries. In the United States specifically, horsemeat is not the norm for consumed meat. There seems to be a problem that has arisen. It is suspected that horses being slaughtered at horse slaughtering factories are not the most up to date, pain free for the horse, and human as people suspect them to be like beef kill floors. There are many pros and cons to horse slaughter that accompany the pressure groups on each side of horse slaughter. Another big controversy with horse slaughter is the argument of legalizing horse slaughter and what those details will entail in the law.
Hung-Wu, Ming China's first emperor, created a very different type of national guard that differed from traditional ones. This new type of army called Wei-So resembled today's United States National Guard. These men were trained to be soldiers in case they were needed at any time for battle. Pensions would be given to them in return for their service. Heavy-duty armies required large amounts of weopons, but most of all they needed sizable ships to get around bodies of water. It is easy to...
War was a way of life for these people, they fought throughout their history and basically their empires died without it. They were always expanding the empires through war and when they could no longer do this they fought with themselves within their own empires. When this happened they rapidly declined and where easy prey for the Europeans when they arrived.
The best would win and the weaker would win. The stronger country would attack weaker countries and in the end the weaker would usually lose. This caused a lot of tension, just like militarism. The last of the ideas, was the idea of jingos. These were people who lived in war.
Just outside the boundaries of the Roman empire of the first and second centuries, beyond the Rhine River, and occupying the area of Central Europe of what is today Germany, lived the tribes of the Germanic people. In Germania, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus gave an account of the lifestyles and organization of these peculiar barbarians. These descendants of modern Germans proved peculiar in that they adopted many qualities typical of barbaric cultures, yet they simultaneously practiced virtues more befitting of advanced civilizations, values more ethical than even the Roman empire of the time. The German warriors had a rigid code that defined how to live honorable lives and shameful acts to avoid committing, and the warriors also adhered to strict tradition in their relationship with their king or chief.
During World War I, the Japanese tried to claim and influence Chinese territory which pushed the Chinese to want to build a stronger nation. A civil war arose between the Nationalist Party led by Jiang Jieshi and the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong as to who would be able to govern China. “Mao’s land reforms and his promise of equality, as well as his military victories, led the Communists to power in 1949” (Cayton 653). This victory was also possible because the Communists were helped by North Koreans who supplied materials and men. The Chinese promised that if the North Koreans were to ever go to war with South Korea that they would help. The Chinese Civil War ended up creating a communist China led by Mao Zedong which would end up expanding Communism into Korea.
The Warring States is the subject and title of Griffith’s third chapter, which gives an enlightening look at the life and times in China after the defeat of the rule of Chin at Ching Yang in 453. (p. 20) The country was divided into eight individual warring sects (with the exception of Yen...
With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China, where most of the prosperous cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundance of goods that most of the world wanted. In the 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with.
The Chinese and the pastoral people had an unsettled relationship, due to both parties greed of China’s nourished land and wealth. When the Chinese rulers were kind and did not bother the nomadic people, there was a sign of peace through and a slight Chinese government power over the frontier people. However, there were various times when China was under, “internal weakness,”(pg.81) and the Chinese administrators invaded the pastorals people, yet the nomadic people’s astonishingly advanced war tactics aided in the overthrown of several Chinese Rulers. This relationship was comparable to North Africa and Western Asia, because China was not located near any advanced societies. “China was separated from the other civilizations [North Africa and
It is undoubtedly the military weakness which was one of the main factors for bringing new problems to China, as she was attacked by other countries. Many members of Guomindang were from bourgeois class and the diversity of membership was not large enough. The size of the army commanded by the government was quite small and some historians even said the government had no military force of its own. Most of the military forces in the provinces had declared independence as revolutionary forces. Due to the existence and effects of the imperialist powers carried over from the Qing Dynasty, military forces were still ruled by man, not nation or law. Lack of national integra...